Right now, our first cohorts of Summer Searchers are returning from their summer experiences – bubbling with stories and eager to share photos. For Yeiris Mercedes Perez, who spent a week this summer in Puerto Rico helping restore communities impacted by Hurricane Maria through Global Works, her experience was an opportunity to discover new strengths, build unexpected friendships, and expand her perspective. 

Yeiris and her team spent their days hauling buckets of cement, shoveling rocks and sand, mixing concrete, and helping prepare a family’s home for future rebuilding efforts. It challenged her in many new ways: 

 

 

“I learned that I’m pretty strong. I didn’t know I was capable of hauling all these buckets of cement and doing all this physical work since I’m so used to just the academics. But it was a lot of fun to be able to be part of something so meaningful.” 

 

As the days went on, the group faced long hours and moments of exhaustion. But rather than giving up, they chose to finish the project together. 

Summer Search experiences are designed to push students beyond their comfort zones—not just through travel, but through relationships. For Yeiris, that meant spending a week living and working alongside people from very different backgrounds. 

 

“In the beginning it was hard. You could see the separation between people… But in the end, we all integrated together. I made a few new friends… It was such a diverse group, and we had a lot of fun.” 

 

She even made a personal goal to get to know everyone: “I’m gonna talk to everybody. I don’t care. We’re just gonna go through it… I wanted to have fun, and this whole trip is to build a community.” 

Part of the trip also took students into Puerto Rico’s rainforest, where they restored trails damaged by hurricanes. A guide explained that the rainforest would never return to exactly what it was before the storm. Instead, nature continually adapts, heals, and becomes something new. That idea stayed with her. 

 

“It opened my eyes to see how not only in nature cycles happen and restoration happens, but also how we can apply that to ourselves… Sometimes we mess up in relationships. We have a fight or we argue. It’s never going to be the same, but you have to compromise and maybe get to a point where it’s better than what it could be.” 

 

 

By the end of the week, saying goodbye was harder than Yeiris expected, she shared: “I can’t believe it’s over… There were a lot of tears that last night.” 

But perhaps the biggest change wasn’t what she accomplished—it was how she saw herself. 

 

“I think I’m more forgiving with myself because sometimes we set ourselves to such a high standard, and it’s OK to not always meet it… I feel like I need to be more forgiving with myself because sometimes we mess up, and that’s OK.” 

 

Growing up means stepping into the unknown: trying new things, meeting new people, and discovering who you are beyond the familiar routines of home and school. Summer Search’s summer experiences give young people the space to do exactly that.

Whether they’re participating in community service, hiking through the wilderness, studying at a university or abroad, or navigating life alongside a new community, students are challenged to stretch beyond what they thought they were capable of. They return home with more than memories; they come back with greater confidence, deeper self-awareness, and the knowledge that they can face new challenges with courage. Those lessons don’t end when the trip does, instead they become part of who our Summer Searchers are as they continue growing into adulthood.